Track-clearing car



3 SheetsSheet l.

(No'ModeL) 0. L. HEYWOOD.

TRACK CLEARING GAR.

No. 256,140. Patented Apr.11,1882.

N. PETERS. Photo-Ulhognphon Wluhington. D. (l

2 t e e h S m e e h S 00 O 0 Y E H L O (No Model.)

9m ,8 0 I L 1 r p A f d m: Dims; e t a P TRACK GLEARING GAR.

N. PETERS Phololillvogmphar, Wlshinflm. D. C.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

0'. L. HEYWOOD.

TRACK CLEARING GAR.

Patented Apr. 11,1882.

(No Model.)

- .To all whom it may concern:

' form similar to the outward appearance of the .Oommonwealth of Massachusetts, 'have intime PATENT CHARLES L. HEYWOOD, ()F BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TRACK-CLEARING CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,140, dated April 11, 1882.

Application filed October 31, 1881.

Be it known'that I, CHARLES LINGOLN HEY- WOOD,of Boston, in the county of Sufl'olk and vented a new and useful Improvement in Hachinery for Clearing Snow and Ice from Railroad-Tracks, of which the following is a specification.

Mypresentinvention is an improvement upon the invention for the same purpose patented to me January 2,1866, and relates to appliances attached to an eight-wheel car for the purpose of removing snow and ice that might obstruct or impede the passage of cars or-trains of cars over the track of a railroad.

To put myinvention in practical form for use I construct trucks and running-gear substantiallyin the same form as used under an ordinary freight-car, but of greater strength of parts, and so firmly constructed as to resist as far as possible injury from accidents. Upon such trucks I construct a car-body in outward body of a freight-car, except the form of the front and rear ends. The floor-timbers of this car-body, which are very large and strong and near together, are long enough to extend forward of the body of the car far enough to sustain a snowplow which is erected on them.

Fora sin gle-track road theplow may be made to throw off snow on both sides of the road; but for a road with a double track I make the plow to throw all the snow off on one side,and by the use of a wing on the side of the car between the trucks, arranged to be thrown out by machinery under the body ofthe car, the snow may be cleared ofi several feet outside of the track.

Back of the snow-plow, and between it and the forward truck, I construct a scraper extending across the track and over both rails, having notches in it over the rails and an up ward curve in the bottom line of it over the space between the rails. Near the rails and both sidesof them this scraper clears away the snow and ice as low as the chairs and ties will permit. This scraper is necessary for the removal of the sndw and ice below the workingline of the plow, and it is controlled and lowered or raised, as circumstances may require, by an attendant inside operating a lever, which is hinged to the forward end of the car, con- (No model.)

nected bya rod to the scraper, and is operated to press the scraper down by acord and pulley at the free end. At its hinged end this lever is provided with a spring, which will allow the scraper to ride over any small obstruction on the track without breaking. A cam and lever are arranged also inside of the car to enable the attendant to raise the scraper above the rails at will.

Between the two trucks, and on one orboth sides of the car, as may be required, I construct a wing, which is strongly hinged to a; supporting-frame at its forward end, and made to swing out at the rear end by a rack and pinion operated by the attendant inside the car.

Under the middle of the car-body, firmly attached to and braced from it, I construct-what I term a double auxiliary plow, which extends down near the top of the rails, its use being-to clear off snow or ice which may fall onto the track after the mainplow and scraper have passed. This auxiliary plow is a rectangular box of stout plank firmly bolted together on a supportin g-frame placed so that two of its corners are in line parallel with the middle longitudinal line of the body of the car,'sotha-t two sides ofit will make a plow to throw snowoft' the track when the car is moving inone direction, and the other two sides will for-ma plow when the car is moving in the other direction. The forward and rear corners of this box or plow are shod with thin plate-iron, and also the bottom edges of its planking on all sides. This double auxiliary plow and the wings already described are used together, the former clearing the snow and ice from between the rails, the latter from the outside along the track. In reversing the car the wings are drawn closely in, so as to present sloping surfaces.

I also construct a barrier or guard of sheathing extending from the rear of the snow-plow baclr to the middle of the car, and extending down below and parallel with the side ofthe car-body nearly to the top of the rail, to prevent the snow which has been thrown off by the main plow from falling back under the wheels of the forward truck. The forward part of this shield next the main plow is cut away about a foot above the bottom line of the rest of it to make room for a small deflectingboard inclined inward from the rear of the hottom of the main plow across the top of the rail. The purpose of this deflecting-board is to brush away snow over the rail when the car is moving backward.

' I make the forward end of the body of the ear above the top of the main snow-plow to conform in a degree in its shape to the form of the snowplow, to throw the snow which may come over the top of the main plow either on one or both sides of the track as the plow. does. In this part of the front end of the car above the top of the snow-plow I place two small windows, one on each side of the car, both having an outer and an inner glazing, with atightly-inclosed spacefor air between the two glazings, and the outer glazing is made of one pane of glass set flush with the outer surface of the sheathing of this part of the car. The object of this arrangement of confined air between the two glazings of the window is to prevent contact of warm air inside thecar with theouter glass, as if the outer glass is warmer than the outside atmosphere snow will adhere to it and render it opaque, and as the track-clearing car is, when in use, in front of the propelling-engine, it is necessary that there should be an unobstructed clear view of the railway ahead of it.

()n the top of the front end of the trackclearing car I place a large lantern or headlight 'with a reflector to light up the track before it in the night.

Inside the body of the car there may be arranged a suitable stove for heating and cook ing, and all the necessary appliances for the sustenance of the. gang of men accompanying the car, and also all the tools and implements necessary for clearing the track of snow and ice and'to make repairs and replace derailed cars, making it a wrecking and tool car as well as atrack-clearer.

In the middle of the front of the main snowplow I place a draw-bar attached to the floortimbers of the car, with a shackle bar or link of sufiieient length to couple with the ordinary cars and engines, so that when a car is approached on the track by the track clearing car it can be coupled with it and removed to a siding without removing the snow-plow, as has been necessary in the use of the ordinary snow-plows.

On the bottom of the snow plow, alittle within the edge of it and exactly over the rails of the track, I fasten a shoe of hardened steel or chilled cast-iron, having the ends chamfered, so that they will not catch at thejoints of the rail, and which will slide on the rail when the weight of snow is sufficient to bring the main snow-plow down in front and prevent the point or forward edge of it from being brought down low enough to strike the ties or rails.

In using this track-clearing ear, the propelling-locomotive being in the rear, the engineer will depend upon the lookout attendantin the track-clearing car for observation ahead, and to facilitate communication there may be arranged a-signal-cord from the position of the attendant in charge inside the ear to the engineers position on the locomotive, with or Without a hell or bells, as may be found desirable.

In the drawings annexed, consisting of three sheets, Sheet 1, Figure 1 shows a perspective of track-clearingcarhaving a main plowadapted to throw all the snow offthe track on one side, to'the right. Fig. 2 shows a partial side elevation of the frameof the car,a sectional view of the main snow-plow, and of the auxiliary plow under the body of the car. Sheet 2, Fig. 1 shows a perspective of Heywoods improved track-clearing car, having a main snow-plow made to throw snow off the track on both sides. Sheet 2, Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of the frame of the body of the track clearing car with themain snow-plow. Sheet 3, Fig. 3 shows a plan of the floor-timbers of the trackclearin'g car, the main snow-plow, and the auxiliary plow under thebody of the car. Sheet 3, Fig. 4 shows a transverse sectional view of the floor'timbers of the car and the wings and apparatus for extending them outward from the car. Sheet 3, Fig. 5 shows a rear end elevation of the body of the track-clearing car. Sheet 3, Fig. 6 shows a top plan of the wings and theframe-work to which they are attached, and the apparatus for throwing them outward from the ear.

The parts which relate directly to the use of the car for clearing snow and ice from the railway-track are lettered, the letters-indicating the same parts in the different figures.

a is the main snow-plow, made to throw off .snow on both sides. a is the main snow-plow,

made to throw off snow on one side only.

a is the track-scraper to clear the snow from the top of the rails and on both sides of them as low as the chairs and ties will permit.

a is the lever for operating the scraper a and is hinged to the car at d, and connected to the scraper by the rod (1. d is the spring for easing the travel of the scraper, and d the cord and pulley at the free end of lever a for forcing the scraper down.

a represents the wings on the sides of the car between the trucks, made to carry the snow farther off from the track than the plow throws it by pushing the rear'end of them outward; a hand-wheel, shaft, pinion, and ratchet to push out and retract the wings a; a, the front of the body of the car above the main snowplow; (t the lantern or head-light on the top of the front end of the car-body; a, the auxiliary plow under the middle of the body of the car; a, a deflector at the bottom and on the back side of the main snow-plow to clear the snow off the rail when the car is moving backward; c, a shield or sheathingto keep the snow thrown oft'the track by the main snow-plow from falling under the wheels of the forward truck; 0, windows in the forward end of the car-body above the top of the main snow-plow, being double glazed, with a close air-chamber between the two panes of glass to give a clear observation forward when the car is moving.

0 is a draw-bar attached to the middle of the front of the snow-plow.

5 c is a cam and lever for raising the lever w" and the track-scraper a 0 c are two steel or iron shoes on thelower timbers of the main snow-plow exactly over the rails of the track, one over each rail, to ride :0 upon and slide on the track in case the snowplow is brought down by weight of snow or otherwise. p

I do not claim anything shown or described in my patent for improved railway snow-plow 15 before referred to; but

I do claim as new and invention 1. In a track-clearing car, in combination with the truck and-body of the car, the auxiliary plow a, made substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.

2. In a track-clearing car having a snowplow built on its forward part, the deflectingboard a", made as described, in combination with the snow-plow and rum1ing-gear,as set forth. 1

3. A track-clearing car having a snow-plow at the front, an auxiliary plow beneath, and a wing on each side, as set forth.

G. L. HEYWOOD.

Witnesses 011s. HOUGHTON, F. L. HOUGHTON. 

